12. It leaves those Gentiles who are not idolaters without religion. It teaches that they are not commanded to love God, and breaks up all the happiness of domestic life, by asserting that amongst Gentiles there is no such thing as marriage (No. [viii.]). For these and other reasons which might be adduced, we believe that Judaism is contrary to the religion of Moses and the Prophets—that it has not proceeded from God, but is the mere invention of men, and therefore false.
II. From these premises we have concluded, secondly, That Judaism has for its authors wicked men, unworthy of credit. One of the most daring acts of wickedness, that can be committed is to invent laws and principles, and pass them off as the laws of God. Every degree of wilful falsehood is sinful; but to forge Divine laws, and impose upon the consciences of men, is the most daring of all wickedness, for it not only deceives men, but it dishonours God. The Divine Being is represented as the author of principles and practices which are abhorred by the good even amongst men. Is it possible that those men could be good, who invented the fables of which we have spoken above—or who overturned the Mosaic constitution for the purposes of personal aggrandisement—or who teach that oaths may be broken with impunity—or that men may keep what does not belong to them—or that unlearned men may be murdered without ceremony—or that it is lawful to look upon the agonies and pain of an idolater without rendering him any assistance or feeling any pity? If falsehood, perjury, dishonesty, cruelty, and inhumanity, constitute men wicked, then the authors of the oral law are wicked men, and altogether unworthy of credit. And therefore we conclude—
III. That their testimony against christianity is of no value. Many Jews of the present day reject Christianity simply because the rulers of the nation rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. But the discoveries which we have made of the principles and practices of these men show, that there is no force whatever in this argument. Their testimony against Jesus of Nazareth is not to be trusted any more than Mahomet’s testimony against the fidelity of the Jewish nation in preserving the Scriptures. This impostor says, that the Jews have corrupted the Old Testament, but no one believes the charge, because he has been convicted himself of forging revelations and laws. The authors of the oral law have been convicted of the same offence, and their testimony must be rejected for the very same reason. They have passed off their own inventions as Divine laws—they have taught their absurd legends as undoubted matters of fact—they are plainly convicted of falsehood, and the only alternative is to say that these falsehoods are wilful, and then the men who witness against Christianity are wilful liars, or to confess that the authors were mad, and therefore incompetent to give any testimony. In every case they must be regarded as propagaters of falsehood. But falsehood is not the only trait in their character; they were interested in their testimony against Jesus: they were his personal enemies, because he opposed their pretensions and condemned all their inventions. They had, therefore, a strong motive for condemning him, and there is nothing in their character to lead us to suppose that their love of justice would prevail over their private feelings. When the general tenour of a man’s conduct is evidently the result of upright principle, it is possible to believe that he would be just even to an enemy. When a man’s whole life has been distinguished by tender compassion, it is possible to believe that he would not be cruel even to a foe. But neither supposition holds good with respect to the authors of the oral law. They do not even profess integrity, for they teach that it is lawful to defraud an unlearned man—they declare, by their permission to kill an Amhaaretz, that they had no value for human life. If they were capable of murdering in cold blood a man who had never offended them, simply because he did not belong to their party, is it to be wondered at that they should endeavour to destroy one who who was a direct opposer? The condemnation of the Lord Jesus Christ by such men is not only no argument against his character or claims, but even an argument in his favour. It is a decisive proof that he did not belong to their party, and that, therefore, there are not the same objections to his testimony as to theirs. The Jews of the present day, therefore, must find some other reasons for rejecting Jesus of Nazareth. The conduct of their great and learned men at the time can supply no warrant for unbelief at present: it is, on the contrary, a sort of presumptive evidence that He was a good man. And this presumption is much strengthened by comparing the oral law with the New Testament, whereby we learn—
IV. That in all those points where the oral law is weak, the New Testament is strong. In the first place, it is entirely free from all fabulous additions to the Old Testament history. It recognises the authority, and frequently cites the writings, of Moses and the Prophets, but it is never, like the Talmud, guilty of forgeries. Neither Jesus nor his disciples pretended to have an oral interpretation of the law, unknown to the people at large, and therefore capable of being twisted to their own purposes. They referred simply to the written word, and by it desired to have all their doctrines judged. In the second place, it is free from all superstitious doctrines concerning magic, astrology, and other heathenish arts. It does not allow absolution from oaths, nor mark out any class of society as the lawful victims of fraud and violence. It is merciful to the poor and to slaves. It teaches that the souls of women are as precious in the sight of God as those of men. It forbids polygamy, and allows divorce only in one case where it is necessary, and thus protects the weaker sex, and guards the sacredness and the happiness of domestic life. It differs especially from the oral law in its estimation of external rites, and thus gives the strongest evidence of its Divine origin. If there be one sign of true religion more satisfactory than another, it is the placing of holiness of heart and life as the first great requisite, at the same time that it does not undervalue any of God’s commands. Now this mark Christianity has, and Judaism wants. The former teaches expressly, That without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and that for the want of it no external ceremonies can compensate. Further, Christianity knows of no violent methods of propagating the truth. It nowhere tells its followers, when they have the power, to compel all men to embrace its doctrines, or to put them to death if they refuse. It has not a criminal code written in blood, and prescribing floggings of rebellion, or even death, for a mere ceremonial offence. It does not allow each individual teacher to torment the people by excommunication and anathema at his pleasure. And lastly, it does not misrepresent God as an unjust and partial judge, who confines the benefits of revelation to one small nation, and sentences the overwhelming majority of mankind to unholiness and unhappiness. If ever Judaism should attain to universal dominion, and the principles of Judaism be brought into action, the whole Gentile world would be doomed to misery and ignorance. By pronouncing that amongst Gentiles there is no marriage-tie, it would rob them of all domestic peace. By sentencing every Gentile reader of the Bible to death, it would deprive them of all the consolations and instructions of the Word of God, and by forbidding them to keep a Sabbath, it would, so far as it could, annihilate every token of God’s care and loving-kindness. The triumph of Christianity, on the contrary, and the full development of all its principles, would fill the world with peace, and joy, and happiness. The fundamental principles of Christianity, namely, that the Messiah has died for the sins of the whole world, sets forth God as the tender father who cares for all his children, and therefore teaches all men to regard one another as fellow-heirs of the same eternal salvation. It does not deny that Israel has peculiar privileges as a nation, but fully acknowledges that “they are still beloved for the fathers’ sakes,” and that they are yet to be the benefactors of the human race as they were of old. But it asserts, at the same time, that God is not the God of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, and thus makes it possible for Jew and Gentile to love each other. The only foundation for the peace and unity of all nations is the recognition of God as the Father of all, and this foundation is the very corner-stone of Christianity, whilst it neither does nor can form any part of the fabric of Judaism. Christianity teaches that the first and great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and the second is, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; and teaches, at the same time, that all men are our neighbours. Judaism teaches that circumcision is the greatest of all the commandments, and that none but Jews and proselytes are neighbours. Thus Judaism divides, whilst Christianity tends to unite, all the children of men in the bands of peace. It has only one principle of God’s dealings to men, and that principle is love; and one principle for the guiding of man’s conduct to men, and that is love also. Let not the Jewish reader think that we Gentiles wish to ascribe any merit to ourselves, as if by our own wit or wisdom we had found out a religious system superior to anything that Israel had been able to devise. Far from it; we acknowledge again, as we did in the first number, that we are only disciples of one part of the Jewish nation. From the Jews Christianity came to us. It has been a light to lighten us Gentiles, but we acknowledge its Divine Author as the glory of his people Israel. All we mean by instituting the comparison is, to show those who still adhere to the oral law, that there is another Jewish religion infinitely superior, and more like that of Moses and the Prophets. And we appeal confidently to every reader of these papers to decide whether the New Testament or the Talmud is the better book, and to say which is the most agreeable to the will of God as revealed to their forefathers. We earnestly call upon them to make the decision, and to deliver themselves from that unmerited weight of odium which has rested upon them for centuries; and from that still more dreadful evil, the displeasure of Almighty God, which has followed them ever since they forsook the Old Paths wherein their fathers walked.
It is time for those, at least, who profess to abhor certain parts of the Talmud and oral law, to justify their professions by consistent conduct. If they wish people to believe them when they profess love and charity towards all men, they must begin by repudiating the authority of the oral law, and renouncing the worship of the synagogue. How can we possibly believe that those are sincere in their professions to men, who declare that they are insincere in their worship of the heart-searching God? Every man who uses the prayers of the synagogue, there confesses himself to God as a believer in the oral law, and consequently ready to execute all its decrees of cruelty, fraud, and persecution—ready, when he has the power, to convert all nations with the sword. That is his profession in the synagogue; when, then, he comes forth from the solemn act of Divine worship, and tells me that he is liberal and charitable, and that he abhors persecution, how can I possibly believe him? There is falsehood somewhere, and the only possible mode of removing this appearance is by a public renunciation of the oral law, and an erasure of those passages in the public prayers which affirm its Divine authority. This all truly liberal-minded Jews owe to themselves, to the Christian public, to their brethren, and, above all, to their God. To themselves they owe it, because so long as their words and their deeds contradict each other, a mist hangs over them. To the Christian public they owe it, for they must naturally desire to know the principles of those with whom they are connected. To their brethren they owe it, for this is the only way of delivering the nation from the calamities of centuries. To their God they owe it, for by the blasphemies of the oral law, His character is misrepresented, and His name blasphemed.
THE END.
INDEX.
- Abarbanel, [124]
- Aben Ezra, [123]
- Abraham at the door of hell, [450]
- Adam, [136]
- Agadah, recognized in Jewish Prayer-book, [3]
- Ahijah, the Shilonite, fable about, [352]
- Almsgiving, Rabbinic, [302]
- merit of, [307]
- Amhaaretz, meaning of the word, [458]
- Amulets, virtues of, [183]
- Angels carry up the sound of the horn at new year, [267]
- Angels, of the waves, [197]
- Angel, evil, [229]
- Angels ministering, [164]
- Apostates, to be killed, [36]
- Arbah, Turim, [112]
- Astrology, taught and practised, [175]
- Atonement, day of, [279]
- Baptism necessary to a proselyte, [304]
- Bar Kochav, [222]
- Bechai, [142]
- Behemoth, legend of, [128], &c.
- Bither, the city of, [216]
- Cain, [138]
- Catechism, Bavarian Jewish, [25]
- gives a false view of Judaism, [26]
- Charity, Rabbinic, [112]
- Charm, Rabbinic, for a bleeding of the nose, [192]
- Charms allowed on the Sabbath-day, [200]
- Charm for bed time, [201]
- Christianity, a Jewish religion, [1]
- Christianity, the religion of the New Testament, [2]
- Christians considered as idolaters, [419]
- Circumcision equivalent to all the commandments, [451]
- meritoriousness of, [450]
- Cock, killing a cock as atonement, [283]
- Commandments, [442]; [162]
- Cruelty, Rabbinic, [8], [99], [209]
- to women, [377]
- Dead, Rabbinic mourning for, [428]
- prayers for the, [295]
- Death, an atonement, [299]
- Demons, asking counsel of, [203]
- Deniers of the law, three classes of, [4]
- Deputies, French Jewish, [24]
- Deuteronomy xvii. 8, &c., explained, [11]
- Dispensation, Rabbinic, from oaths, [434]
- Divorce, Rabbinic, doctrine of, [373]
- Drunkenness allowed on feast of Purim, [47]
- Edomites, Christians called, [123]
- Eleazar, Rabbi, [6]
- Elijah, the Prophet, conversation of, with R. Jose, [323]
- Epicureans, [4]
- to be killed, [36]
- Epicurean, reader in synagogue suspected of being, [127]
- Evasion, Rabbinic, [80], [83], [107], [225], [235]
- Excommunication for not washing hands, [75]
- Fast on the ninth of Av, [216]
- Fasting, merit of, [264]
- Fire, not to be extinguished, [102]
- Flogging of rebellion, [99], [211], [228], [383], [386], [420]
- Friday, Good, [87]
- Gentile, who studies the law, guilty of death, [22]
- who keeps a Sabbath-day, guilty of death, [22]
- good advice not to be given to, [33]
- woman not to be helped in child-bed, [33]
- not neighbour, [34]
- lost property not to be restored to, [35]
- Daniel punished for giving good advice to, [33]
- who wishes to turn Jew, [63]
- a Jew not publicly to receive alms from, [306]
- Sabbath not to be profaned to save a Gentile’s life, [212], [214]
- food regarded as carrion, [383]
- food not to be eaten, [383], [416]
- wine unlawful, [419]
- he that steals from, only to pay the principal, [34]
- wine, to drink, worse than fornication, [424]
- Gentiles, idolatrous, to be exterminated, [42]
- Gentile, drowning, not to be delivered, [30]
- Gentiles, duties towards, [24]
- not brethren, [26]
- not neighbours, [26]
- not to be greeted except from fear, [10], [26], [28]
- condemned for transgressing the command about tabernacles, [288]
- still have the defilement of the serpent, [156]
- cursing the, on the feast of Passover, [120], [121], [122]
- no pious, now, [67]
- marriage of, not binding, [58]
- and dogs, [107]
- Gershom, R., anathema by, [366]
- Hands, laying on of, [328]
- washing of, [71]
- Heathen, who are not in a state of salvation, [5]
- High Priest, an unlearned man, [7]
- Hilchoth Accum, [28], [33]
- Avadim, [21]
- Avel, [428]
- Berachoth, [71], [73]
- Deoth, [113]
- Genevah, [34]
- Gezelah, [34]
- Girushin, [375]
- Gittin, [374]
- Iom Tov, [116]
- Ishuth, [366]
- Issure Biah, [64]
- Kiddush Hachodesh, [100]
- Maakaloth Asuroth, [419]
- Mamrim, [335]
- Matt’noth Aniim, [304]
- Megillah, [48]
- Mikvaoth, [72]
- M’lachim, [22], [25]
- P’riah u’r’viah, [7]
- Rotzeach, [32], [33]
- Sanhedrin, [172], [342]
- Sh’vuoth, [436]
- Taanith, [216]
- Talmud Torah, [17], [148]
- T’phillah, [2], [128]
- T’shuvah, [4], [247]
- Hillel, the elder, [187]
- Holyday, how to make fire on, [106]
- Holydays, additional, prescribed by the rabbies, [98], [101]
- Jeremiah unjustly condemned, [13]
- Jewish-German, [283]
- Jews persecuted in Spain and Portugal, [42]
- Illegitimate, a learned man takes precedence of High Priest, [7]
- Intolerance, Talmudic, [28]-39
- Ioma, [19]
- Jonathan, son of Uzziel, [187]
- Jost’s history, [125]
- Isaac, merit of offering, [271]
- Jubilee, year of, [66]
- Judaism the religion of the oral law, [2]
- Judgment, Rabbinic, idea of the final, [287]
- Karo, R. Joseph, [17]
- K’hillath Shlomoh, [282]
- Kiddushin, [19]
- Kimchi, [93]
- Leaven, putting away of, [80]
- Legends, [127]-167
- Levi, family of, still known, [312]
- Leviathan, legend of, [128], &c.
- Levites, scriptural privileges of, [311]
- Liberty, religious, first taught by Jesus Christ, [46]
- Luck, good, [182]
- Magic allowed by Talmud, [168]-174
- Maimonides, [25], et passim
- intolerance, [26]
- Meat, lawful and unlawful, [397]
- Medrash Rabba, [153]
- Merit of ancestors, [285]
- Merit, doctrine of, [247], &c.
- Messiah, already come, [387]
- Miracles, Rabbinic, [203]
- Mishna, recognised in Jewish Prayer-book, [3]
- Mixture, Rabbinic, command of, [116]
- Muktzeh, [103]
- Napoleon, [24]
- New Year, Jewish, [247]
- New Year, judgment at, [247]
- Noachidæ, [25], [41]
- Oral law opposed to the Word of God in duty to parents, [9], [10]
- Oaths, Rabbinic dispensation from, [435], [450]
- Parable of Good Samaritan illustrated, [29]
- Parents, if in captivity, to be redeemed after the Rabbi, [9]
- duty to, according to oral law, [9]
- Passover, rites of, [79]
- Pentecost prayers, [145]
- Pesachim, treatise, [6]
- Pharisees, enemies of the Lord Jesus, [9]
- bad men, [8]
- Physician, Jewish, not to cure idolaters, [33]
- Pirke, Eleazer, [137]
- Planets, [175]
- Polygamy, allowed, [366]
- Poor, Rabbinic, oppression of the, [97]
- Power, Rabbinic, to excommunicate, [239]
- Prayer-book, Jewish, acknowledges and teaches the authority of the Talmud, [2], [3]
- Jewish, full of legends, [127]-167
- Priests, scriptural office of, [310]
- Proselytes, sojourning, [26]
- Purgatory, Rabbinic, [296]
- Purim, feast of, [47]
- Rabbi, duty to, goes before duty to parents, [9], [10]
- Rabbies not agreed, [399], [400]
- Rabbinic charity, [112]
- Ramban, [142]
- Rome called Edom, [123]
- Rosh Hashanah, [298]
- Saadiah Gaon, [162]
- Sabbath, unlawful for a Gentile to keep a, [22]
- Sabbath-day, amulets on, [184]
- Sabbath, laws concerning, [285]-290
- Salvation, who are excluded from, by the oral law, [4]
- Sambation, [139]
- Sanhedrin, not infallible, [8]
- great council of, [168]
- members of, magicians, [168]
- understood seventy languages, [168]
- all handsome men, [171]
- pillar of the oral law, [335]
- a later, may reverse the decision of a former, [335]
- not a Divine institution, [337]
- of Greek origin, [341]
- greater and lesser, [343]
- business of, [345]
- death to those who rebelled against, [344]
- contrary to Scripture, [345]
- Parisian, [366]
- Satan deceived by the blowing of the horn in the month of Elul, [266]
- Scapegoat, [280]
- Schoolmasters, Rabbinic, [315]
- Scripture, women not bound to study, [18]
- Sepher Jetzirah, [181]
- Schulchan Aruch, [7]
- Sinai, [163]
- Slaughtering, laws concerning, [380]
- laws of, [396]
- Slaves exempt from the duty of studying the law of God, [17]
- Souls of all Israel at Sinai, [152]
- Sotah, [76]
- Stars, influence of, [175]
- Study of the law equivalent to all the commandments, [51]
- Tabernacles, feast of, [287]
- Talmud, recognised in Jewish Prayer-book, [3]
- Tradition, Rabbinic argument for overthrow, [11]
- no unbroken train of, [350]
- Treatise, Avodah Zarah, [291]
- Turnus Rufus, [140], [216]
- Unlearned man, lawful to kill, [6]
- Van Oven, Joshua, Esq., Manual of Judaism, [465]
- Venus planet, [177]
- Washing of hands, [71]
- Wine, Gentile, unlawful, [419]
- Woman, insane, to be turned out, [377]
- Women, exempt from the duty to study the law, [17]
- do not receive the same reward as a man, [18]
- not to be taught the law, [18]
- minds of, not equal to the study of the law, [18]
- command of Moses, respecting, [21]
- duties of, prescribed in New Testament, [22]
- Rabbinic degradation of, [359]
- cannot give testimony, [360]
- not regarded as part of the congregation, [361]
- World to come, who are excluded from, [4]
Printed at the Operative Institution, Palestine Place, Bethnal Green, London.
Footnotes